Bi-Partisanship Redefined

On Friday, the current occupant of the White House made a plea/threat to the GOP, under the guise of "Bi-Partianship." And yet he has essentially called all Republican deficit reduction/debt ceiling plans dead on arrival. Pretending to be the "adult in the room," Obama fails to talk about the failure of the Senate to advance a budget, a deficit reduction plan or debt ceiling plan that has passed the Senate. In essence, Obama is a back seat driver, criticizing everyone else's work. It's clear to me that Obama wants to transfer ownership of the economy to the GOP. That's understandable given the multiple failures due to Obamanomics - historic deficits, debt, historic weak economic growth coming out of a deep recession, and low job creation resulting in high unemployment. Obama wants both parties to work together, saying that "putting party first is over." And yet his "grassroots election group" Organizing For (against?) America emailed the following comments a few hours after the call for the two parties working together.

Imagine you got to be a fly on the wall in a closed meeting of the House Republicans yesterday. Would you hear sober talk of the solemn responsibility our representatives have? Or empathy for those having a tough time in this economy? No. You'd hear one freshman Republican tell his colleagues to "put on your helmet, buckle your chinstrap, and knock the sh** out of 'em." This group thinks holding our economy captive is a game. But right now Congress is running out of time to reach a resolution to this debt crisis before Tuesday's deadline -- or put our economy and American jobs at risk. President Obama has called on both sides to compromise and get this thing done -- and he's asked all Americans to contact their representatives and tell them to do their jobs. "If you want to see a bipartisan compromise -- a bill that can pass both houses of Congress and that I can sign -- let your members of Congress know," the President said this morning. "Make a phone call. Send an email. Tweet. Keep the pressure on Washington, and we can get past this." So let's do this. If Congress fails to act, millions of seniors may have to go without the Social Security checks they rely on. Veterans may not be able to get their benefits. We could lose our AAA credit rating. President Obama has made it clear from the beginning that he will work with Republicans and Democrats to find a balanced, responsible approach to dealing with the nation's debt. What's not clear is whether the fringe ideological faction on the other side refuses to come to the table because they're genuinely unwilling to give an inch, or just because they think they can benefit politically from appearing that way. Either way, they need to be reminded that Americans know the stakes and want them to compromise and get the job done.

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The American people elected the current House to a job. They are doing their job against great odds (no control of Senate, White House). This might be the defining moment of our generation. If we cannot confront our out of control spending and put America back on a path to fiscal responsibility, when will we ever do it? Obama repeatedly says that the government needs to "Live within it's means." What does that really mean when Obama is looking for a higher credit limit on the American (paid for by taxpayers) credit card? Enough with the rhetoric Obama. Enough with pretending that the GOP is the problem. YOU are the problem.